


Sucre

by livefree_13



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Established Relationship, Happy Ending, M/M, Mutual Pining, Valentine's Day Fluff, Yosuke's POV, but nothing graphic, long distance is hard, prepare yourself, sappy romantic crap, some sexual innuendo near the end, souyo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 03:12:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13673067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livefree_13/pseuds/livefree_13
Summary: He awoke that morning to a picture.(Happy night-before Valentine's Day it's time for weepy Souyo fluff.)





	Sucre

**Author's Note:**

> Well, Yu's still in Tokyo, miles away from his boyfriend, and both of them are struggling through the last few months of their third year at their respective schools. Yosuke just hopes he can get through Valentine's Day in one piece.
> 
> This fic has a very, _very_ brief and vague reference to a Christmas-time fic I wrote ([Now That He's Here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13103673)), but it's  NSFW (and also kinda short and meh) so beware.
> 
> Eternal gratitude and thanks to [ScaredofHam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScaredOfHam/pseuds/ScaredOfHam) for patiently betaing this project!

He awoke that morning to a picture.

He didn’t get those nearly often enough, he thought as he smiled at the muted, cheerful expression on Yu’s face that beamed at him from his much-too-tiny phone screen. Beneath the photo read, “Happy Valentine’s,” with a small red heart at the end. Yu’s picture made it seem like he’d been up for hours already, as usual - bagless eyes, bright skin, clothes neatly pressed in preparation of the day. It was barely six in the morning. Yosuke was sure he looked like someone who’d had a _much_ rougher night out than a late shift at Junes. His windows barely filtered the morning sun into his room, and though his eyes burned as they strained against the light from his phone, he didn’t really find that he cared.

 

~~~

 

Yosuke’s Valentine’s Days were always depressing, but this year it was for a whole new reason. Because he _had_ someone - someone to do those goofy, cliched, romantic things with - and they were nowhere within reach.   _Figures_. Over the nine months he and Yu had been dating, they’d done a lot of dumb couple-stuff together, but not _Valentine’s Day_ stuff. He had to admit that Christmas at least had been . . . _special_.  

He cleared his throat and tried not to blush as he pushed past a group of students crowding the school gate.

Regardless of how special it had been, Christmas Eve already felt like it happened too long ago. He sighed as he made his way into his classroom. The entire school seemed abuzz and hypersensitive to the date: the guys were all grouped together, chattering amongst themselves; the girls were desperately trying to hide the small packages they’d snuck with them to school that morning. The only ones who appeared bored were the teachers. And Yosuke.

“Here ya go, Yosuke!”

He turned only to come face-to-face with a surprisingly well-put together package complete with red ties and sparkly heart . . . “sprigs” (?) shooting out of the opening, and the hands of Chie Satonaka holding it out for his taking.   

“Wow . . .” He tentatively plucked the baggie from her hands, unsure where he could grab it so that he wouldn’t dislodge any part of her masterpiece. “For me?” he asked unnecessarily.

She rolled her eyes. “Duh, doofus,” and turned away from him to distribute more similarly wrapped packages of what Yosuke surmised must be chocolate.  

“Thank you,” he sang unconvincingly (and to no one). He plopped his bag and his butt down and began to slowly work on the gift’s ties. He wasn’t really hungry, and he guessed this was more bargain-priced chocolate from Junes. But maybe the sugar would give him the pick-me-up he needed to get through the rest of his day.  

Alone.

He’d call Yu later on, of course. But he wouldn’t get to see him. He wouldn’t get to see him until Spring, likely . . . when they finally graduated. A few more months. A few more rough months until the end.

He worked a small piece of the melty chocolate from the package and popped it between his lips unthinkingly. It took a second for the taste to hit him, but once it did, he almost choked. It wasn’t that it was bad. _No_. It was that it was actually _good_.  _Really_ good, like not-pre-packaged good. But . . .  wait, Chie couldn’t make _chocolate_. . .

“Chie, where did’ju get this shtuff, itsh ama-”

“Shhhh!”  She whipped around and shushed him, one finger pressed to her lips. She had a _very_ serious look on her face. “Don’t go blabbering about how good it is - people will _know_!” 

He still had a bit of chocolate in his mouth when he asked, “Nthey’ll kmnow?”

She huffed in annoyance and put her tiny fists on her hips. “They’ll know it’s homemade! I didn’t make just _anybody_ chocolate. Jeeze, Yosuke . . .” she groaned, turning back around to continue her gifting responsibilities. 

Yosuke felt something in his heart snap and mend itself back together simultaneously.  _So Chie Satonaka is learning to bake . . ._

He took another small piece from the bag and sampled it a second time.  

 ** _. . . and she made me chocolate._** **_Good._** ** _Chocolate._**

“Hm,” he hummed privately, a faint smile forming while the bitter, flavorful candy slowly melted in his mouth.

 

~~~

 

Work had been hell, as expected. He’d been relegated to helping the part-timers organize the Valentine's Day sale racks that had once been stocked to the brim with chocolates of all varieties, themed cards, phone straps, stationery sets, plushies, gift wrapping supplies, cookbooks on how to make candy, sweaters for your dog,  _socks_ . . . and which had now amalgamated into one giant stock pile of burnable rubble after every woman and girl in Inaba had ransacked it. He hated the way sales racks looked near closing on an _average_ day . . .    

Still, he and his most loyal workers managed to make some progress. Daisuke was his favorite employee by about 10,000 miles. He never complained and did whatever Yosuke asked him; he even hummed his way through his work, occasionally, which Yosuke found charming albeit misplaced. To thank him for his hard work, he told Daisuke to take off early.  

“Just go hang out in the back until it’s time to clock out. You worked your ass off today, man.”

Daisuke fistbumped his shoulder after a casual, congratulatory handshake and the impact made Yosuke grunt. “No problem, bro! Anything for you."

Yosuke wondered how someone could stay so cheerful after a 5 hour shift on a school day, but didn’t want to tempt fate as he watched Daisuke stroll to the backroom, humming.  

While work had done an absolutely _valiant_ job at erasing the joy he’d experienced from receiving homemade bags of fantastic-tasting candy - from not _just_ Chie, but from Yukiko _and_ Naoto as well - it was starting to come back after the day drew to a close and he was now minutes away from calling his most favorite person. He just needed to get the boxes of still unsifted and unsorted merch to the stockroom for the morning folks to take care of.  

He picked up the first one - which he suspected may be a bit too heavy for him - and nearly dropped it at the sight of the person standing a few feet away, right before him.

“Hello, Yosuke.”  

 

~~~

 

It was a strange feeling. It had been almost two months and yet he felt as though he’d only just seen him, as though no time had passed at all. That’s how Yu looked at the moment, anyway, with the same, ageless face, composed and penetrating and unaffected entirely by the crawl of time. And while the span of months in the space between them now seemed thin enough to tear, it didn’t change the fact that Yosuke felt like he’d been waiting his whole life to hear his name from that mouth again -  _in person._

“H-hey . . ." As sure as his grip had been when he lifted the box, it suddenly failed him, and the full weight came crashing down on his foot. “Ow-shit!” he yelped, trying to keep his balance on one leg.

“Are you alright?!” Yu rushed forward to aid him but Yosuke waved him away. He definitely caught the humored smile on his partner’s face before he was able to snatch it back (he certainly didn’t blame him . . .).

“Nah, nah, I’m fine!  I’m fine . . .” He placed his foot back down and stumbled forward towards him. “Partner,” he shook his head, “what are you doing here . . . ?” He was a splendid mix of exasperation and awe and he wasn’t sure which was stronger. The rest of him didn’t want to keep speaking. The rest of him wanted-

“I couldn’t very well pass up Valentine’s Day." Yu grinned, stepping forward into Yosuke’s personal space.  

Yosuke _wanted_.  

“But . . . dude, it’s-”

“What’s a few thousand yen between boyfriends?” He spoke softly, sincerely, voice hushed as he took out something from his pocket and held it between them. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

It was a small red box. Yosuke’s insides lurched and expanded and sank and renewed themselves in one merciless cycle. With terrified fingers, he took it from him, turning it idly in his hands. He almost shook his head. This was _not_. . .

Of course they wanted to wear rings.  _Of course they did._ A month or so ago, Yu had teased him about pulling something like this, but Yosuke thought he’d been emphatic when he insisted they wait until after they could at least _live_ in the same town. He didn’t think he could stand another reminder of just how far apart they were in the meantime.

He swallowed. He couldn’t look Yu in the face. A part of him was afraid if he did he would turn to stone Yu’s gaze on him was so strong.

To his astonishment, he found that the crack in the box was opening in his hands without order.  

It _was_ a ring box. An _actual_ ring box. And in the center of the puffed pillow inside protruded a small, flat, disc-shaped . . .

_piece . . ._

_of chocolate_. . . ?

It was in fact a wafer of chocolate - yen-sized, like the ones that came wrapped like gold coins as children’s candy.

Yosuke breathed and sniffed, swallowing back the sting in his eyes. “ _You asshole_.”  It was suddenly hitting him how close he’d been to accepting.

Yu chuckled a little, his hands coming up to meet Yosuke’s elbows as the brunette quickly removed the chocolate from the box and ate it, snapping the box shut with finality and stuffing it in his apron. Everything inside him settled into a warm calm, like a storm had just passed. He sighed again, allowing the relief to wash over him. 

“You didn’t think I’d propose to you in the middle of Junes,” Yu teased, easing him into a hug.  

“Thank _god_ you’re not that stupid.” Yosuke’s voice was quickly muffled by Yu’s shoulder. He gratefully wrapped his arms around him, holding him close, inhaling and desperately trying to commit the fresh scent to memory. He pulled back only because he didn’t want to cry here, and he knew talking was the only way to avoid it. “Chie made me chocolate today; so did Yukiko . . .”  He pressed a palm to one eye even as Yu’s hand came up to wipe the ready tear away.  

“She told me. Naoto, too?” Gentle fingers against his skin.

He sniffed again and nodded. Shit, he was _really_ emotional right now. “Did they send you any?”

“Nah, I’m not that important.” Yu tugged Yosuke closer by his apron, fingers sliding over and around his hips, meeting their foreheads.

Yosuke chuckled. “Well, you missed out. It was actually good, believe it or not.”  

“I’m glad the book I sent Chie worked.”  

Yosuke pulled his face back. “Wait, so her sudden talent was _your_ doing? Damn, I should have known . . .” he trailed off, thinking about the others and how much of a role Yu had played in their experiments as well.  _How many batches did those girls go through to get it right . . ._ Yosuke rolled his eyes. If anything, it should only serve to make him feel more special, so he held his tongue of the other jabs he had lined up.  

“I just helped a little - a tip here and there, a tweak or two to the more intermediate recipes, the occasional midnight call when the fear of starting a fire became too great.”  

“Yeah, thaaat’s what I figured,” Yosuke laughed, pulling him closer and gently pressing their foreheads together again. “ _Goddamnit I missed you_.”  

Yu hummed very lowly in agreement and brushed his fingers along Yosuke’s cheek.  

Their lips locked almost without effort. The taste of Yu’s mouth brought back a rush of feelings, most of them pleasant, some of them bitter, and Yosuke all but inhaled every one of them. Yu opened his mouth and Yosuke took that opportunity to sneak his tongue between his lips.  _Any_ chance to deepen the kiss, _any chance at all_ and he would take it. Kissing him was the warmest thing on the summer beach, no less the cold heart of February.  

Yu grunted and tilted his head so that their mouths fitted together tightly, jaws grounding fiercely, tongues beating together thick and wet.  

Suddenly, Yosuke didn’t care that they were making out in the middle of Junes. Supervisors, customers, security cameras - they were just a backdrop, the static images on a still who mattered about as much as the torn-apart merchandise on the lonely Valentine’s Day sales racks. They were a million miles away. This world they’d worked so hard to save was for them and they were taking it, with stumbling steps into the cold metal of a shelf, with firm grips around shirt tails and belt buckles, strong mouths tearing over skin and tongues like liquid fire racing close behind.  

 

~~~

 

Yosuke had been afraid to ask, but . . . Yu was only here for one night. He had to catch his train early the next day so his parents didn't suspect his disappearance. When his partner explained, Yosuke was initially aghast he’d even tried to fool them - and then, immediately _thrilled_ with the idea of keeping a secret roommate for the night. (Teddie had been all too happy to visit Yukiko’s for the time being, much to their relief.)  

One night, and it wasn’t long enough. Yosuke knew their whole lives together would never be long enough.  

But this time, at barely six in the morning, he wouldn’t have to settle for a picture.

 

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> I love these two but I hate what they do to me.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! ^______________^


End file.
